The present disclosure relates to gaming machines and networks and, more particularly, to games-on-demand systems.
Gaming in the United States is divided into Class I, Class II and Class III games. Class I gaming includes social games played for minimal prizes, or traditional ceremonial games. Class II gaming includes bingo games, pull tab games if played in the same location as bingo games, lotto, punch boards, tip jars, instant bingo, and other games similar to bingo. Class III gaming includes any game that is not a Class I or Class II game, such as a game of chance typically offered in non-Indian, state-regulated casinos. Many games of chance that are played on gaming machines fall into the Class II and Class III categories of games.
Various games, particularly the Class II and Class III categories of games, can be implemented as server-based games in a server-client system. Server-based games are generally those in which the games and capabilities of a gaming terminal depend on a central server. The terminal may download games from the central server or may rely on the central server to run the games.
Game applications are becoming more sophisticated and, hence, larger in size, to use the expanding capabilities of central servers and gaming terminals. In addition, the number of different game applications available for play is always increasing, as game developers attempt to keep players interested in visiting casinos to play new and exciting games. As a result, there are so many various game applications in existence; it has become impractical to store all of these games on a single gaming terminal. Thus, server-based games have been implemented in many casinos and hotels. In this way, a multitude of game applications can be stored at a central server, and played remotely or downloaded to individual gaming terminals in the gaming network.
In a games-on-demand system, a player can operate a gaming terminal to request a particular game for playing. In a server-client game download configuration, a requested game is downloaded from the central server to the gaming terminal, and then executed on the gaming terminal. In a server-based configuration, on the other hand, the requested game is executed on the server, and the player interacts with the server to play the game. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,549, “Database Driven Online Distributed Tournament System,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,016, “Remote Gaming Device,” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,602, “Slim Terminal Gaming System” describe server-based configurations where minimal or no processing occurs on the gaming machine. In these conventional systems, the game is executed on the central server, and outcome data are sent to the gaming machine for output to the player. The gaming machine operates as an IO device for a player to interact remotely with the game executed on the central server. The game play, meter tracking, and other game functions are carried out on the central server.
In implementing a games-on-demand system, both the download configuration and the server-based configuration described above have their respective drawbacks. In a download configuration, the gaming terminal is susceptible to long delays while a requested game is retrieved and downloaded from the central server, and then authenticated, before game play can begin. These delays are often attributable to the large and ever increasing size of game applications, as explained above. In addition, downloading of games on-demand is bandwidth intensive, computationally complex and intensive, and not secure when games are in transit. In a server-based configuration, a drawback is that the operability of the gaming terminals is entirely network-dependent. When the central server malfunctions, or other network problems arise, interfering with the connection between the gaming terminals and the central server, all of the gaming terminals are affected. Game play can be hindered on the gaming terminals due to their dependence on the central server to execute the game.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a gaming system which eliminates both the delay and other problems associated with download configurations, and the network-dependence associated with server-based configurations.